THERE is a common perception that earning good money is tightly linked to having a job with standard working hours or having big connections that will eventually help to find a job with standard working hours.
But earning a little extra, doesn’t work like that.We have heard of how doctors and nurses have gone on to moonlight at private hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.
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| Simbotwe working in his workshop. |
Liwena Simbotwe, 38, a firefighter at the Livingstone City Council has also found a way of making that extra money for himself and his family.
Despite being a firefighter, a job he says he loves so much, Simbotwe, who is married to Cindy Nyoni, with whom he has two children, all boys – Liswani (9) and Likezo (5), is also a carpenter and runs a workshop at his home.
He and Cindy, his wife of ten years co-owns Ecowood Furniture, a business they registered in 2009 after seeing an advert by the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC).
When he is not fighting fires in the tourist capital, he is ‘playing’ with wood, making furniture such as beds, wardrobes, tables and desks among other things.
Whereas he is a council employee, he is also his own boss and his intention is to grow beyond expectations.
“We registered with the hope to get some funding from the commission and it was a requirement that a business needed to be registered with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA),” he says.
The couple may not have been successful in their pursuit of that loan from the commission, but that has not stopped them from aiming high and becoming a near household name in the tourist capital.
“Even then, we have been able to clinch a couple of big deals from the Ministry of Health where they wanted us to make shelves at a number of clinics. It was quite a good deal,” he says.
He had also at some point clinched a deal with the Ministry of Education where he supplied desks to some schools.
“It is just that we haven’t been able to get that extra financing that we initially wanted, otherwise, I had and still have very big dreams for Ecowood Furniture,” he adds.
He further mentioned he plans to grow and empower women and youths with carpentry and joinery skills.
“I and my wife have, through our church been encouraging people, especially women and youths to come and learn this skill,” he says.
He adds, “Our wish is for people to learn a trade that will be able to earn them a little extra. I was fortunate enough that growing up, I developed this interest in carpentry and learnt it from my father.”
Indeed, Simbotwe born from Enock Simbotwe and Beauty Nanyangwe (both late) and sixth in a family of 12, learnt the tools at a very young age.
“My father wanted us to have a trade that we would fall back on once we are done with school,” he says.
After completing his secondary education at Mpongwe Secondary School in 1995, he flirted with courses such as tourism and travel at Fairview College and also one in public education at the University of Zambia Adult Education.
It was not until 2005 that he decided to enrol at Mwinilunga Trades Training Institute where he obtained a crafts certificate in carpentry and joinery.
After that, he went to work for Radian Stores in Lusaka where he was assembling furniture.
“I then rose through the ranks and became a Radian Store Freedom Way store manager, opened the Mazabuka branch in 2007 before being promoted and transferred to Livingstone in 2010 and I can safely boast that I am the one that opened the Radian Store Mosi-oa-Tunya Square store,” he says.
Other than wanting to own his own workshop and be able to employ and empower other people, his other wish had always been to work in the civil service.
“My chance came in 2013 when I was employed by the council as a firefighter and driver. In 2015, we went to Kabwe to train as firefighters and emergency driving,” he says.
He adds, “The journey has been interesting because we receive many orders. People who have seen my works from my Facebook page and others in person have been recommending others to come too.”
The challenge and bottlenecks in accessing empowerment funds is however what riles him.
“There is too much red tape in the procedure and it does not favour the youths. Take for instance me and my wife, we have been very compliant with all the regulations but it hasn’t been easy at all,” he says.
He is also for the idea that colleges consider upgrading the carpentry and joinery course beyond craft certificate level.
“Our friends in Germany go as far as getting a diploma and degree in carpentry,” he says.
Their two children however, aspire to be something else. Liswani, the older wants to become a pilot and Likezo the younger aspires to become a medical doctor and save lives, something their parents don’t want to get into their way.
“But they usually come and help out in the workshop,” says their father, Simbotwe.
True to his words, the young boys know almost every tool in the workshop and it seems they too will learn a thing or two about carpentry after all.
True to his words, the young boys know almost every tool in the workshop and it seems they too will learn a thing or two about carpentry after all.
